PUYALLUP — The Camas formula carried the Papermakers to the brink of a shot at the Class 4A girls soccer title on Friday night.
But a couple of special goals from Issaquah delivered a tough 2-1 defeat for Camas in a state semifinal match that went to overtime at Sparks Stadium.
Annie Lorilei Hoffman scored from 20 yards out with less than 10 seconds left in the first overtime period as the Eagles finally found a way to beat Camas goalkeeper Lauren Rood.
Camas will have about 13-1/2 hours to recover for the third-place match against Tahoma at noon on Saturday. Issaquah will face KingCo conference rival Skyline for the 4A championship at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Issaquah coach Tom Bunnell said he was both excited and relieved when Hoffman’s fourth shot on goal of the game barely eluded Rood’s reach. He was dreading the prospect of a penalty-kick tiebreaker against the Camas freshman.
“Absolutely. Absolutely. She’s a good keeper, so we wanted to avoid (PKs),” Bunnell said.
Until midway through the second half, the match went to plan for the Papermakers. A beautiful goal in the 24th minute gave Camas a lead, and the combination of hard work in midfield and defense had the Papermakers right where they wanted to be.
Then Audrey Thomas worked some magic, turning both the momentum and the direction of the match.
The two-time KingCo Conference MVP, Thomas was playing forward instead of midfield to protect a sprained left knee suffered in the quarterfinals.
Thomas tied the game in the 57th minute, beating several Camas defenders with her dribble to create a shooting opportunity 10 yards from goal.
The Eagles also were without forward Rachel Wheeler, who has 10 goals and 12 assists on the season, because she injured a knee last Saturday. But Issaquah controlled play for much of the match, and turned up the heat with the score tied.
Rood made six of her eight saves in the second half, and the Camas defenders were able to clog the 18-yard box.
What they couldn’t do anything about was the well-taken 20-yard game-winner.
“She looks to shoot those. But that goalkeeper’s so good, we kept wanting to get closer to take them,” Bunnell said. “It was a great strike. The keeper got her paws on it, but just not enough.”
Camas, which has struggled to score against its tougher opponents, broke through in the 24th minute with a beautifully executed corner kick. Jamie Carter took the kick from the attacking left corner. Defender Hailey Rose met the ball at the far post and sent a header back across the goal mouth to Teylen Sheesley, who directed the ball into the open net.
It was a beautiful bit of soccer. But on Friday it wasn’t quite enough for a beautiful result.
ISSAQUAH 2, CAMAS 1 (OT)
Camas (17-4-1)
Goals (assists) — Teylyn Sheesley (Hailey Rose, Jamie Carter), 24th minute. Goalkeeper saves — Lauren Rood 8.
Issaquah (19-2-1)
Goals (assists) — Audrey Thomas (unassisted), 57th minute; AnnieLorilei Hoffman (unassisted), 85th minute. Goalkeeper saves — Tala Fry 2.
Halftime — Camas 1-0.
